Online home of guitarist Andy Gavin

Europe – Ready or Not solo

One of my favourite solos by one of my favourite players… Here’s Kee Marcello’s ripping solo from Europe’s Ready or Not.

This is one of the more technically difficult covers that I’ve taken on. It’s one of the flashier solos from the Out of this World album, but still melodic. The hardest part is the long picked run at about 0:31… It’s really difficult to get that sounding like the original, even if you play all the notes cleanly and correctly, as the tone of Kee’s amp (a Tommy Folkesson-modded Marshall) was very unique with its distinctive eq, which virtually eliminates the sound of the pick attack, giving the guitar tone an almost flute-like quality. Apparently neither Kee nor Tommy can remember how they came up with the mod, so there’s not much chance of replicating it. Kee’s tone changed considerably since he stopped using the amp, which I think is a shame. Anyway, he’s still one of my all-time favourite players – and has been so overlooked and underrated, it’s just not funny.

I hope you like my version anyway. As with all the cover solos I’ve been doing, the aim is not to replicate things exactly. Next time, I’ll try something a bit easier!

Equipment-wise, it’s the Laney Ironheart Studio again, with TS9 giving a clean boost. There’s also a CAE wah pedal on parts of it.